Knits from Fuzzi are Back! + Lots of Randomness

Knits from Fuzzi Srl (made in Italy)  are back - always latecomers for some reason, but really awesome knits from Fiume and Nanibon -- looks like Nanibon updated its logo since last season. These are probably the best knits Daffy's gets in, hands-down. Prices are slightly higher than in past seasons, especially with some of the heavier wools, but they are well worth it -- I paid $119 for a double-breasted heavy wool knit sweater (almost a jacket it was that good). Small but decent selection down here in Philly. Other locations will vary, some may not get any.

Also, a few cashmere knits from Sojrn. While I believe these are made in China, they are very high quality and worth the Daffy's price of $89.99.

Those were the highlights of the week, here's a rundown of the randomness -

Leather jackets from Cole Haan. Good stuff in terms of the merchandise itself, but every discounter in the country has these things, and most at a price less than Daffy's - $299; I've seen them at TJMaxx for $199.

Wool coats from Andrea Neri (made in Italy) - these coats are ok, but quality is really hit or miss depending on what you get. Styling is also pretty non-existant; very basic stuff, but will keep you warm. Better than FB and Kemitch in my book.

Gloves from Portolano. I could have sworn they were stitched incorrectly, cause my hands just felt really awkward inside them. It's quite possible that's why they made it to Daffy's. Other gloves I've seen over the last few weeks - Carlo Rossi, Fownes, Calvin Klein and Les Copains (these ones  are retailing at $49.99)

Saw a pair of pants from a company called Bleifrei. Unsure if these were women's things that somehow made their way into the men's dept as happens on occasion (the website does not feature menswear), but they were quite nice. I saw literally one pair retailing at $29.99.

Also saw one pair of Perry Ellis pants which I was not happy about, considering what cheap junk the stuff is. I can't imagine how they consider selling these at $29.99 when there is so much better to be had for the same or less in their stores. Stuff like this never ceases to amaze me.

A small selection of some pretty ugly shirts from Ami Sanzuri - they carried his stuff in the Spring, which included a bunch of speedo-like bathing suits. At $8.99, they're practically admitting how awful these things are.

A few knits from a company called Harry's Club. Unsure what to make of them, but the fact that the label said "Styled in Italy" makes me quite wary of these things.

More, believe it or not --- random pullover knits from System, puffer jackets from Kenneth Cole and Kenneth Cole Reaction, and bow ties from Countess Mara. All not worth your time.

Florsheim & J&M Shoes + Interview w/Daffy's CEO

In the last few days since I've been in, a whole new bunch of shoes came out -- a number of items from Florsheim's Imperial collection (nothing really great here, perhaps if those were deadstock from 30 years ago...), and a bunch of casual shoes from Johnston & Murphy -- these included black and mahogany wallabies/chukkas (made in Mexico) for $79.99, and red-rubber bottomed navy oxfords (made of Sheepskin in Brazil) for $69.99 (pics on the sides are the models available in the store - Kholson & Brennan). The J&M shoes were quite nice, albeit a bit on the expensive side, the Florsheim's are not worth your time IMHO.



Also happened to notice that there were a lot more shirts from Milena SpA (made in Italy) out on the floor this week as well, especially a ton of shirts from the B>More range.

And finally, another article from the Bergen Record, a North Jersey newspaper, interviewing current Daffy's CEO Caryn Lerner - here.

Belts Anyone?

...Cause that's all you've got this week from what I can tell. Made a quick stop into the Philly store yesterday, and even though I was told some more coats came in, the only thing new that I could see were some additional belts from Torino (made in USA). These are some really nice things, and most are of exotic leathers - I've seen a number of crocodile belts, ostrich, water buffalo and sting ray. Quite an eclectic selection, most in larger sizes. Pretty good quality. Now, if only Daffy's had gotten in some of the bags from Torino Leather, I'd be much happier.

For a Quick Read

An article on North-Jersey based off-price retailers, including Daffy's. http://www.northjersey.com/news/131416978_Off-price_makeover.html

New Flash Sale Site (non-Daffy's)

There are certainly enough flash-sale sites out there to choke a horse - just to name a few that carry guys merchandise - Gilt, Hautelook, Ruelala, Prive, Jacksthreads - but this one seems a bit different. A friend of mine forwarded me a link to venteprivee.com. (no this is not a referral link, so feel free to click away w/out regret). According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, it appears that this company has existed in Europe for a long time, well before Gilt, and almost pioneered the concept of flash sales, at least for clothing. Now it seems that they're opening up shop State-side, and I'm very intrigued to see what labels they'll be carrying.

Does anyone out there have experience w/the site from the EU? I'd be interested to hear any first-hand accounts.

Ho Hum Week @ Daffy's

So things are slowing down at Daffy's in terms of new merchandise coming in -- here's a short list, as there wasn't much of anything worth noting aside from some leathers/shearlings (see last line) ---

A lot of Made in Italy scarves, almost all 100% wool, or a mix w/silk and/or cashmere. The labels appear to have been removed on all of them, but they are quite nice in all sorts of different patterns. The vendor code is IBELLE if that sounds like anything anyone recognizes.

Bags are back from Korchmar - nicely made leather bags, but I wouldn't exactly call these things stylish. Much more utilitarian than anything else.

Some backpacks from Beverly Hills Polo Club were put in the men's dept. for some reason.

Other random stuff --- wallets from Nike; some boxed scarves from Donald Trump Collection.

The best part of the last week -- Philly got in two shearlings (yes, literally two, that is it) from a leather manufacturer that came in last season w/a much wider selection. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the manufacturer, but the vendor code is OLIV, and you will recognized them b/c the label inside is cut out, and they have a navy hang tag which looks pretty strange - sadly, don't know how else to describe them. Will try and have pictures for next week -- but bottom line is these things are made extremely well, and have a bit more styling/fit than the Owen Barry stuff that came in a month ago. They're selling between $400-$500 w/a claimed original retail of over $1500 - which does not surprise me at all. These particular items were marked final sale, and I don't believe the other shearlings are marked that.

Quick Note

Forgot to mention... all of the stores also seemed to get in a nice selection of wool knit scarves/neckerchiefs from Intermoda SpA (made in Italy) along with the ties that came in -- mostly under the labels of Guy Laroche and Galieni. Sadly, most were too small to be used as true winter scarves and I would categorize them as neckerchiefs for lack of a better term.

More Nonsense

As I've said before, you never get the good stuff at Daffy's without an equal amount of junk. Such was the case with the latter part of this week -- the Cosby sweaters are back again in full-force with items from Birillo, Stacatto, etc... - all made in Italy,  but styling that would be more appropriate for the 90s.

Also came about some really awful heavy-cotton polo shirts from some American brand, I believe it was 'Time Out'. Unsure if that was the exact name, but if you see them, you'll know what I'm talking about. They look like they came out of the bargain bin at K-Mart. Really subpar quality.

Shoes from Giorgio Brutini are scattered about the various locations. Pretty poor construction on these things.

Slightly better merchandise (not much) came in in the form of nylon jackets for fall/winter in various labels, including Giado and Amazing (might be missing a second word in the label for this one). They appear to have been produced for an Italian company, though were not made in Italy. The vendor code on these is 'SIAM' if anyone wants to give a guess at who makes them/where they're coming from. Decent stuff; at least better than the other items listed here. 

The only thing interesting to some people -- for whatever reason, the Paramus, NJ store is apparently the dumping ground for all of the leftover spring/summer merchandise. They had huge racks filled w/75% off merchandise, including a number of pieces that I remember seeing down here in Philly. Also lots of 2-Xist underwear at 75% off as well.

New This Week + Some New Philly Stores (non-Daffy's)

Well stopped in for a quick look around. Again, not very much new stuff in-store -- there were a bunch more winter coats from John Barritt, decently made; and a huge load of pants from Banana Republic came in, all retailing for $19.99. Honestly, I don't know why Daffy's is carrying that stuff again, when it didn't really sell last season. People aren't exactly coming to Daffy's for Banana Republic closeouts - that's what the BR Factory Store is for.

The only thing really noteworthy were some boots in from Canadian company Pajar. Most were retailing around the $79.99 mark. While they're made in China, the quality on these things for a nice and solid winter boot is pretty good, and styling is decent as well.

And now for you Philly people out there, wanted to mention a few stores which opened up recently on Walnut Street -- Jack Wills, a British clothing retailer opened a store in Philly a few weeks ago (strangely, it now has more locations in the U.S. than in the UK). The sales staff said it's now the biggest location worldwide, though the square footage is still pretty small. Decent stuff - the aesthetic is more of a preppy version of Abercrombie/Hollister - certain items are not worth your time, such as the shirts and 'WILLS'-embossed hoodies, as you can get those sorts of things anywhere if you actually want them. But a few of the blazers were nice, though for $400, I would expect much better construction. The only thing that really intrigued me were some of the shoes. They're apparently made by a company in England called NPS. From what I've read over at SF, NPS are middle-of-the-road quality shoes - definitely not anywhere near the quality of a Trickers or Church's, but may be worth your money if they go on sale.

Also new on Walnut St. is a North Face store, but more importantly, a few doors down from Jack Wills is a Barbour store. I never actually realized that Barbour produced that much merchandise, but it's some really great stuff - includes lots of coats, of course, but also blazers, sweaters, hats, gloves, some awesome leather and waxed cotton bags...just lots of nice stuff. A bit pricey, and quality varies depending on the item, but definitely a cool place to stop in and look for a few minutes if nothing else.

Forgot to Mention....

Nothing especially new persay, but I forgot to mention that in the last few weeks, including the NYC stores, have gotten in leathers and other various items from Conbipel (Italy's answer to the Gap), and some leathers from Space 2000 SpA under the Bomb Boogie label. Note that the Conbipel 'leathers' felt more like pleather than the real thing, but I didn't bother to check the labels inside since the garments are not really up to par with the stuff that's actually made in Italy -- even though Conbipel is an Italian company, its merchandise is produced in the far east, though, often-times if you want something uber-cheap it's at least fitted more properly than the American labels that come into the young mens department (read: One-Ninety-One, Company 81, etc...)

10/1 Update

Nothing particularly great in this week, in fact I didn't notice any new clothing aside from some accessories (listed below):

A new batch of ties came in from Intermoda SpA (made in Italy) -- namely ties from Moschino and Gianfranco Ferre. Unfortunately for myself, the ties were too wide, but there were definitely some beautiful pieces in there including a number of wool ties. Both labels were $29.99

The only other new stuff that I noticed down here in Philly was some assorted chachkis - optical mice, shoe shine kits, Travelocity-branded airplane pillows, and some wallets. The only thing notable out of that bunch was the wallets which came from J. Fold - these actually retail at better department stores such as Bloomingdales. But I would personally have liked the wallets w/out all the other nonsense. I suppose they're trying to be more like TJMaxx/Marshalls/Ross that sell all the electronics and trinkets, but I don't know if that's a great move.